“Now, why?” asked the detective. “Isn’t Miss Alta the missing link?”
“That is the strangest part of the whole business. She is a piece of the link, I think, but then she has nothing against Mary and me. There would be no object to what she has done unless she had.”
“You did not know that she accused you of being the confederate of your friend or that she knew that you had the box of jewels hidden in the safe?”
“What?” cried Billie, with amazement. “But how did she know——” she began.
“Yes, how?”
Billie sat looking down at her hands. She was not thinking of those slender, strong fingers, which appeared to clasp each other with a friendly grip. Her thoughts were busy going back over the past few weeks.
“I think I’ve found the missing link,” she said at last, with a serious look in her eyes, as she turned toward the detective. “Belle Rogers is the missing link. I can’t understand why I haven’t thought of it before, but it seemed so incredible.”
“Miss Campbell,” put in Mr. Bangs severely, “I am afraid you are not such a good detective, after all. You have left out one of the most important things. You did not tell me that some one besides your three friends knew about the jewels.”
Billie had omitted the story of the confusion of the two suit cases at Shell Island. She had really quite forgotten it and Mr. Bangs chuckled with amusement when he heard how Belle had opened and examined all the contents of another girl’s suit case out of pure curiosity.
“Then she must have read the name on the card, too,” he said presently.